Structure and magnetic properties of {\it Ln}MnSbO ({\it Ln} = La and Ce) and CeMnAsO

Abstract

Neutron powder diffraction (NPD) study of \textit{Ln}MnSbO (\textit{Ln }$=$ La or Ce) reveals differences between the magnetic ground state of the two compounds due to the strong Ce-Mn coupling compared to La-Mn. The two compounds adopt the \textit{P4/nmm} space group down to 2 K and whereas magnetization measurements do not show obvious anomaly at high temperatures, NPD reveals a C-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below $T_{\mathrm{N}}=255$ K for LaMnSbO and 240 K for CeMnSbO. While the magnetic structure of LaMnSbO is preserved to base temperature, a sharp transition at $T_{\mathrm{SR}}=4.5$K is observed in CeMnSbO due to a spin-reorientation (SR) transition of the Mn${}^{2+}$ magnetic moments from pointing along the $c$-axis to the \textit{ab}-plane. The SR transition in CeMnSbO is accompanied by a simultaneous long-range AFM ordering of the Ce moments which indicates that the Mn SR transition is driven by the Ce-Mn coupling. The ordered moments are found to be somewhat smaller than those expected for Mn${}^{2+}$ ($S=5/2$) in insulators, but large enough to suggest that these compounds belong to the class of local-moment antiferromagnets. The lower $T_{\mathrm{N}}$ found in these two compounds compared to the As-based counterparts ($T_{\mathrm{N}}=317$ for LaMnAsO, $T_{\mathrm{N}}=347$ K for CeMnAsO) indicates that the Mn-$Pn$ ($Pn=$ As or Sb) hybridization that mediates the superexchange Mn-$Pn$-Mn coupling is weaker for the Sb-based compounds.